User needs and the institution’s mission and goals are the central drivers for all the organization’s improvement efforts.
All decisions take fully into account the impact on users. All services must be as easy as possible to understand and use.
The University views information and technology as strategic resources, supporting and safeguarding them as critical assets.
Policies and procedures will respect the institution’s basic values (e.g., academic freedom, presumption of privacy). They will reflect the evolving framework of state and federal law and regulations (e.g., FERPA, HIPAA, USA PATRIOT Act, rapidly changing intellectual property laws). The University will comply with federal mandates that call for ensuring reasonable accommodation for disabled students.
The University must establish a centrally managed funding mechanism for lifecycle replacement of each category of computing equipment, either building replacement and maintenance costs into the base budget or finding alternative methods of funding. Replacement cycles for standard desktop computers, computers in labs, instructional equipment (e.g., projection units, computers in classrooms), centrally managed servers, and other categories of IT equipment have been recommended and are reflected in IT budget projections.
Basic and widely used IT core services can most effectively be provided at the campus level (e.g., e-mail, Web services, institutional information systems), with specialized academic and research computing supported at the unit level by department personnel and IT division systems administrators. In addition to demonstrable cost savings, centrally coordinated IT services, under the management of professional systems administrators, improves overall network and computing security.
Campus-wide management and support of desktop computing, particularly for administrative units, will provide better service, efficiency, and economy of scale.
Acquisition and delivery of high quality information must support all departments and all levels of curriculum and research. Increasing enrollments and the addition of new programs mean increased information needs.
Information must be provided at time of need and in the most useful format. Information resources and tools must be intuitive and easy to use.
All core IT servers will be fully redundant for maximum availability and reliability.
Establishing purchasing standards for computing equipment and software is essential. Increased standardization will improve functionality and reduce costs.
IT services will be as transparent as possible to users, so that users are not required to understand the IT organization in order to gain access to services. Points of access for Information Technology assistance will be kept to a minimum.
All University personnel must understand their roles and responsibilities with regard to data, including the access, use, acquisition, and validation of data. Users are responsible for ensuring the appropriate use of data. Data custodians are responsible for ensuring appropriate access to data.
Business and administrative processes must be migrated to integrated information systems that are responsive campus needs and that enable users to conduct transactions easily. Goals include eliminating duplicate data entry and moving towards a less paper-intensive environment for standard University processes.
The demands for information technology funding and services will exceed the institution’s ability to respond. Staff and budget resources available to IT will be reallocated on an ongoing basis to meet the highest priority needs.
Planning for IT is ongoing, as befits a dynamic organization striving to respond appropriately to changing institutional needs, priorities, and processes.
